Chapter Text
It didn't take too long for Gaster to arrive to the lab. The lab that he shared with Dr. Alphys for quite a while now. Ever since King Asgore appointed that they should start working together in Gaster's lab, which was now really not just Gaster's, but Alphys's as well. Alphys would still sometimes be at her old lab, but she did most of her work down here, with Gaster, too. Though Gaster mostly did his work at home, since Sans would not come down to this lab anymore due to old wounds, Gaster still tried to get some work done with Dr. Alphys here as well.
As he walked down the hall, Gaster reached the office. The lab remained relatively the same in the past ten years. The only notable difference was that Gaster got rid of all his machines that he would use to experiment on the brothers in the past. There were also a few new additions to the office. Alphys moved down her more important equipment. There was also a charging station where Gaster saw a rectangular metal box that he recognized as Mettaton.
At Alphys's desk, there were a set of cameras monitoring the whole of the Underground that she set up some time after the 6th human's fall. She thought it could be efficient to keep a close eye on what humans did around the Underground, and Gaster did not really find it to be a bad idea, per se. Although he was more than sure the purpose of this was rather that Alphys can satisfy her interest in humans, Gaster did not exactly mind either way.
In the corner of the room, there was also...
...
An unconscious human, hooked on a life support system.
They were malnourished and pale, despite them being technically a 24 years old adult at this point. They have been asleep for for ten years. Ten entire years. Their soul has been unresponsive and they did not show the slightest hint of being alive anymore.
This Human, was Kale Nova. A very, very special human. The only human that Gaster could feel even the slightest ounce of sympathy for. The only human who was able to earn his trust. The human who became a dear friend to Sans and Papyrus in their youth. Who was an anchor for the boys in their hardest stages of life. The human, who gave their life to help monsters.
The human who was the reason Gaster became the person he is today. If he hadn't took them in that day, ten years ago... Gaster dreaded to think of how things would have changed for the worst.
Kale's determination was sucked out by Alphys and Gaster's determination extractor - a machine that found a new home down here in this lab, - in order to stop a cruel, soulless monster Flowey the Flower from stirring terror across the Underground. Kale made this sacrifice in order to protect their friends. Due to this, they lost their trait and have been in a coma ever since.
"I-I wonder..." Alphys suddenly entered the office, snapping Gaster out of his trance. "... if they'll ever wake up anymore..." The lizard monster anxiously readjusted her oversized glasses.
Gaster buried his hands in the pockets of his light grey jacket. "It's been ten years. It's hard to say if they are even alive anymore."
"Y-Yeah..." Alphys shifted her gaze onto the floor with saddened eyes.
"But, in any case..." Gaster quickly changed the topic. "there was something you wanted to show me?"
"A-Ah- y-yes, right." Alphys nodded, finding her original train of thought. "H-Here, I-I think you should see this." She guided Gaster to the camera systems. Frisk was currently sitting by a river in Waterfall, seemingly admiring the aesthetics. "S-So uh... I've watched them all day yesterday, since they left the Ruins. T-They have been uh... p-pretty normal. They were doing Papyrus and his friend's puzzles. I-It was all fine until... P-Papyrus's bear friend confronted them a-and... it..."
Gaster vaguely remembered Papyrus and that bear child trying to ... 'capture' Frisk in an seemingly very futile effort. Neither Papyrus or the bear child were very hostile, after all. Sans said this morning that they should probably keep an eye on Frisk for good measure, because he felt like something was off. Gaster furrowed his brows as a suspicious feeling began to arise within him. "Did anything happen...?" He tried his best to keep his tone casual.
"W-Well uh... t-they started fighting. A-And the Human was acting v-very strange. But Papyrus quickly broke them up." Alphys fidgeted with her fingers and cleared her throat to make the ounce of nervousness vanish from her tone before she continued. "I-I thought the human just got scared at first. B-But then I saw... t-their stats..." Alphys referred to another monitor next to the cameras. It relaid Frisk's stats. Immediately, something did not miss Gaster's attention.
LV 2
That meant Frisk must have killed at least one monster. Or perhaps even more.
"T-They were already LV 2 when they left the R-Ruins. I-I figured they probably just... g-got scared of a Froggit or something. B-But there are moments when-"
In that exact moment, the screen blinked for a second and the stats changed, shockingly different.
Frisk
LV 19
HP 99
AT 100
DEF 100
WEAPON REAL KNIFE
ARMOR LOCKET
Gaster had to do a double take to make sure he was reading those numbers right. "... What."
"Y-Yeah uuhh.. i-it does that..." Alphys squeaked in an unusually high voice. "I-I really though it was just some w-weird error or something! B-But it... keeps blinking out... a-and then the stats go crazy."
"But that... that can't be right..." Gaster rubbed his forehead.
"I-I know." Alphys nodded nervously.
It took Gaster a while to process this before the stats blinked back to... 'normal'. Were they really normal? Which stats were correct. "There... there is no way they could have killed that many monsters in the Ruins." Gaster said, though his tone sounded like he was rather trying to convince himself.
"I... I-I don't think they would. Th-there can't be that many monsters there. A-And even so... they s-seemed... friendly enough." Gaster's change of tone did not miss Alphys's attention, and that made her a little more apprehensive.
"And how can you know for sure? They could have just been trying to manipulate Papyrus to make him lower his guard. Besides, based on the stats, they must have killed at least some monsters."
"W-Well..." Alphys looked away, sweat collecting on her forehead. She couldn't really blame Gaster for his suspicions, he still had a hard time with humans after all, but this wasn't exactly the reaction she expected. In fact this was probably a worse case scenario that Alphys hoped wouldn't occur. "I-I think! I-I-It's just some weird g-glitch! I-I ... m-musta messed up something! S-Stupid machine hehehehe... y-y-y-you should forget about it! It probably doesn't matter!" Despite her words, the strange statistics made Alphys concerned too, and she hated it, very much.
Gaster did not look convinced at all, but he just nodded. "Alright... if you say so. Just call me if there is anything strange happening, I'll bring over paper work later today. Good day, Alphys."
"Y-Yes! B-Bye Dr. Gaster!"
Gaster quickly walked down the hall and entered the elevator leading outside.
He felt like a fool.
He should have known, as soon as Papyrus would see a human, he would fail to realize the immediate danger. Papyrus is still painfully naive. Gaster dreaded to think about what could have possibly happened to Papyrus yesterday during his sentry duty. He was even slightly concerned for the bear child. As he entered the the elevator, he whipped out his cell phone and called Papyrus, impatiently tapping his feet.
Papyrus answered moments later. "HI GASTER!! IS SOMETHING WRONG? I WAS JUST ABOUT TO TALK TO UNDYNE ABOUT-"
"Papyrus, can you explained what happened yesterday, with that Human?" Gaster failed to keep his tone calm which caused Papyrus a bit of concern. "ARE... YOU ALRIGHT?"
"Just answer me."
"... WELL NOTHING WRONG HAPPENED! FRISK SUCCESSFULLY WITHSTOOD ALL OF OUR PUZZLES!" Of course, Papyrus sounded just as lively and happy as ever.
In contrast, Gaster failed to stay calm, even though he didn't want to get mad at Papyrus. It wasn't really his fault, after all. "Did he do anything? Act strange?"
There was worry, settling in Papyrus's tone, the bright cheeriness washing away immediately. "HE REALLY DIDN'T... WHY ARE YOU ASKING?"
"He could have just been trying to fool you all along. You could have gotten seriously injured or worse."
There was a minute of silence. "BUT... GASTER... I SWEAR, FRISK WAS BEING FRIENDLY!! HE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG!"
"And I refuse to believe that for a moment." The elevator already opened, but Gaster didn't leave yet. He just folded an arm, leaning into the wall. "I know for a fact he killed at least a few monsters."
"I'M SURE HE WAS JUST SCARED!" Papyrus tried to ease Gaster to the best of his ability, although the idea of Frisk killing monsters sounded very unsettling to him. When he got nothing but an unconvinced groan in response, he added. "GASTER, PLEASE... I KNOW YOU STILL DON'T TRUST HUMANS BUT JUST... TRUST ME! I KNOW WHAT I'M DOING! I PROMISE!"
Gaster sighed, his tone finally going softer. "Just... be careful. Very careful. Please." He closed his eye. His cell phone holding hand trembled for a moment. "I'd never forgive myself if you-..."
"I KNOW... DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. I'M THE GREAT PAPYRUS! FUTURE ROYAL GUARDSMAN!!"
"... Of course you are." Gaster couldn't stop a smile from spreading on his face, however small it was.
"I'LL SEE YOU LATER AT HOME!! BYE!"
"Goodbye, Papyrus."
* * * * *
Leaving the cold snowy fields, Frisk was traversing through a place, although not much warmer, definitely more beautiful. As he walked on the road, he heard the sounds of waterfalls, the river flowing just next to the road. He had to stop for a moment to admire. The river carried huge blocks of ice with it, stretching into the dark abyss where no eye could see. Frisk sat down on the rocky ground, though careful not to fall. "It's so... beautiful."
* ... It is. The Underground does have a hidden beauty.
And to think he climbed this mountain with the intention of disappearing from the eye of the world... He has already been down here for three days. He started wondering how all the others are doing. Ben, Echo... even Vade. Suddenly, Frisk dug through his gray backpack, digging out an old cell phone. A phone that Toriel gave him. It felt like an eternity since he has left the Ruins. ... Toriel asked him to not come back. Should he even bother calling her? Against his better judgement, Frisk dialed the number. However, nobody picked up. "... I kind of miss her. She was so caring."
* Toriel is just like that, yes.
There was silence for a few minutes. Frisk in the meantime, buried his phone back into his bag, watching the river flow. However, Chara eventually broke the silence.
* I want to ask you something. If it's not too personal that is.
"Oh? What is it?" Frisk looked up at the air, as usual when he was talking with Chara, although he did not know who she was yet.
* Frisk, why would you climb Mount Ebott?
Frisk bowed his head, rubbing his arm. "Oh... well... I... It's kind of silly, to be honest." He turned his head away.
* I will not judge.
"... I... I did it because... I felt like the world never loved me. I felt like nobody ever needed me. See, I was in an orphanage for as long as I remember. But I waited eight years, yet nobody would adopt me... ever." His words were followed by silence. Frisk went on. "As I said... just silly. I even abandoned my best friend, in the worst way possible. He would hate my guts if he ever saw me again." There was a lump forming in his throat, stopping him from saying anything else. Thinking about Ben was still painful, especially considering how long he has been gone for.
He wondered if he got into the newspaper article about the missing humans. Chara broke the silence.
* I don't think it's silly. You felt unloved on the Surface and even hurt your best friend because of your trauma. I can relate.
"... Really?"
* Yes. My parents were abusive, I did not have any friends in school, I was constantly mocked and humiliated for not fitting in. I had... rather peculiar interests, despite being very young.
"That... sounds terrible." Frisk said quietly, staring at the flowing water before him. Chara went on.
* So, I relate to you. I also climbed Mount Ebott to escape my hellish life. I was even younger than you, when I did it.
"Wait you're... also a Human??" Frisk's eyes widened with realization.
* I would hardly call this pathetic state human.
There was a little more anger in her tone than she would have liked. She softened up as she went on.
* ... But... yes. I used to be a human. I climbed Mount Ebott, with the intentions to end my life. But I survived the fall. I was found by Asriel Dreemurr. Son of the King and Queen.
There was a pause. It was exceptionally difficult for Chara to look back on these memories. She tried to regain her composure as she went on. Frisk just listened without interrupting. Somehow, he could feel the emotions weighing down this disembodied person in his head. He couldn't help but frown, sadly.
* The Royal family were very loving. It was... difficult to adjust to, at first. I came from a world where I was unloved, only to fall down to a place where people, for once in my life, loved me for who I was. With all of my flaws and weaknesses. Eventually... me and Asriel became best friends and siblings. Until... I ended up hatching a... 'perfect' plan to free monsterkind. And I dragged Asriel into it.
"I guess it didn't go well..." On second thought, Frisk sort of wished he'd have stayed quiet. "I-I mean... sorry, pointing out the obvious here..." Chara didn't seem to mind.
* No... It went horrible. My plan was to poison myself and end my life, so Asriel could absorb my soul, cross the Barrier, then collect six other Human souls to free monsters. At first, it went according to plan. I successfully poisoned myself. Asriel could cross the Barrier with my soul. But... when he got to the village... every human attacked him with all they had. He refused to fight back. Asriel thought that if he killed the Humans... monsters would have had to face another war. At the time, I did not understand. So I called him an idiot. A coward. In his last living moments. My horrible plan caused my brother's untimely death, and the ruin of Monsterkind.
Frisk found that it has been several minutes and he was still speechless. It took a lot for him to digest everything Chara just said. He did not even know what to say. His first instinct was to say sorry, but would that really be worth anything at all? He rather just preferred staying quiet, but then he thought... "I don't think you should blame yourself. Sure, you made a mistake but you couldn't have known what happened. And you couldn't have known what would be the aftermath of Asriel's death. That was out of your control."
* ... I manipulated my brother into trying to murder an entire village.
"And I'm not saying that's okay. But... you just wanted to-
* Stop. Talking. Now. I do not want your pity.
"But I'm not- I-I mean-"
* If it wasn't for me, monsters would have never lost their prince. I was never even one of them. I was just a nobody, coming from the world that they were despised by.
Frisk felt like this was not an argument he could win. However, before he could even think to speak, he felt his vision blur. He wiped his eyes and found that the tears wouldn't stop flowing from his eyes. But... he wasn't crying. He didn't feel like crying.
* I-I... my apologies I shouldn't-
It didn't take a lot of thinking for him to realize what was happening. "No, it's okay. You can... heh... let it out through me." Frisk smiled, with tears flowing down his face that were not really his own. There was just silence between the two of them for a while until he spoke up again. After he gave his companion time to calm down, he felt confident enough to ask. "Can you... tell me your name? I know you said before, it doesn't matter. But it matters to me. I want to call you by name. I... want to view you as an equal... a friend, even. Since you've been so helpful and nice to me ever since I fell. You have been guiding me through my whole journey and... I'm getting more and more used to you being here. If I could call you by name, it could feel even more natural. So ... what is your name?"
* ... It's... Chara.
* * * *
Frisk took a few more minutes before he would go on. There was a patch of tall grass in the way that he was trying to crawl past, when he heard a familiar voice sounding above him.
"HI UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT!!" Frisk was surprised to see Papyrus on a higher area above him, facing a tall, armored figure. He stopped to listen in. "REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER..." The armored figure muttered something that Frisk did not hear. It was too dark to see his expression, yet from his tone Frisk could still tell Papyrus was nervous. "DID I FIGHT HIM? WELL UH... ROMAN DID!! AND I ASSURE YOU, HE FOUGHT VERY VALIANTLY-" Papyrus's sentence was caught off as the stranger spoke again. "DID WE CAPTURE HIM?" Papyrus looked away for a moment, shoulders slumping. "NO... WE TRIED VERY HARD UNDYNE, AND WE ARE VERY SOR-" There was a minute of silence. Papyrus's tone was now vibrating with concern. "WHAT?? YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN'S SOUL YOURSELF? BUT UNDYNE! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY HIM, YOU SEE-" The armored person turned to face Papyrus, menacingly, causing the tall skeleton to back away. There was another uncomfortable minute of silence before Papyrus sighed. "I UNDERSTAND... I WILL DO EVERYTHING I CAN TO HELP YOU."
Papyrus ran off into the darkness and Frisk waited for a few moments before trying to sneak off in the grass. But as soon as he took one step, he heard armor clanking. He looked up again, to see the menacing figure pointing a blue spear at him. Frisk froze, right there on the spot. He did not even dare to breathe, as he felt his body fill with fear.
Are they gonna throw the spear at him? Should he try to run? Should he just stay very still?
Before he could even think to make a move, the armored monster put their spear away and disappeared into the shadows. Frisk had to take a few moments to recover from his sudden fear, before he could move forwards. But as he did, he heard footsteps behind him that caused him to stop in his tracks and shoot his gaze behind his shoulder. But there was only a yellow monster child behind him. Frisk heaved a sigh of relief.
"Woaaahhh..." The monster child's eyes shined with excitement and amazement. "Did you see the way she was staring at you? That... WAS AWESOME!! I'm soooo jealous! What did you do to get her attention?" The monster inched closer to Frisk and now he could see he was a few inches shorter than him. Before he could think of a response, the child already scooted away, exclaiming excitedly. "Come on! Let's watch her beat up some bad guys!" Not paying attention, he tripped and fell face first on the ground, but he quickly stood up and ran off.
* Okay.
It was Chara's voice that managed to snap Frisk out of his fear induced confusion. He saw another one of those stars, and hit it with a moment later.
* A feeling of dread hangs over you. But you stay determined.
"Do you think Papyrus-" Frisk said a moment later with worry.
* I don't think he will really hurt you or drag you into harm's way. But Undyne is more serious than him. If it's up to her to collect you soul...
A moment of silence.
* ... Well, we should be twice as cautious around here, till we leave this place.
Only a few minutes later, Frisk's phone rang in his bag and he picked up.
"HELLO, THIS IS THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
It took a moment for Frisk to react. "I never gave you my number??"
"OH, I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER UNTIL I GOT YOURS!! BUT ANYWAY FRISK, I HAVE A NICE ADVICE FOR YOU! IT IS GOOD TO CHANGE YOUR CLOTHES!!"
"My... clothes?" Frisk blinked. He had absolutely no clue where Papyrus was going with this. "What do you mean."
"WELL... YOU KNOW... STRIPED SHIRTS CAN BE A BIT EXPOSING!! AND IT MIGHT BE GOOD FOR YOU TO KEEP A LOW PROFILE!"
"... Oh... right..." It didn't take long for him to put the two and two together. "I guess... you are right."
"... AND ONE MORE THING." Papyrus said after a pause. "DID YOU EVER HAPPEN TO... HURT ANYONE?"
Frisk felt like his heart just dropped from a twenty story drop, landing somewhere in the very pit of his stomach. He did not hurt anyone, if you do not count the incident with Vade and that one Froggit... and the encounter with Roman. Even if they both came out of that scenario uninjured. "I..." Frisk didn't even know what to respond.
* I can feel you shaking. Breathe. I can't really judge anything you did on the Surface and what happened with Roman wasn't your fault.
"I JUST UH... HEARD SOMEONE SAY... SOMEONE WHO I DEFINITELY DON'T KNOW BY THE WAY!! I HEARD THEM SAY YOU... MAY HAVE KILLED MONSTERS... A-AND UH... O-OF COURSE I DON'T BELIEVE THAT FOR A SECOND, YOU ARE MY DEAR FRIEND AFTER ALL!! BUT THIS PERSON WHO... WHO IS... DEFINITELY NOT SOMEONE I KNOW!! THEY HAVE A BIT OF PROBLEMS TRUSTING HUMANS! AND I JUST WANT TO PROVE THEM WRONG!! EVEN THOUGH I DON'T KNOW THEM!! AT ALL!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!"
"... Is it Gaster?" Even though he didn't see the Royal Scientist for a long time, Frisk could definitely tell Gaster was the type to mistrust humans and Papyrus's points about not knowing that person were not very convincing.
"WH-WHAT? OF COURSE NOT!! WHY WOULD HE EVER SUSPECT YOU!! AFTER ALL HE... UH... HE IS..." Papyrus lost his train of thought as he realized he couldn't come up with a convincing lie. "JUST... PLEASE TELL ME YOU DIDN'T DO ANYTHING..."
"I-I... I swear it wasn't- I didn't mean- it was just an accident and I- I didn't- I-" Frisk stammered with his words, unsure of how to explain himself. "I..."
"... I UNDERSTAND." Papyrus said after a minute of silence. "YOU WERE JUST SCARED!! OF COURSE YOU WERE!! IT IS UNDERSTANDABLE, AFTER ALL! MONSTERS MUST BE SCARY FOR YOUNG HUMANS!! I KNEW I WAS RIGHT ABOUT YOU, I WILL TELL GASTER RIGHT AWAY THAT HE THOUGHT WRONG!"
"Wait-"
After Frisk barely managed to get out his first word, Papyrus hung up. He sighed, his shoulders dropping.
* ... Don't hold it against him Frisk. Gaster was... never comfortable with humans. He resented me too, when I was living with the Dreemurrs.
"How much do you know him?" Frisk looked up at the air.
* I never really got to know him. He mostly avoided me and I only ever saw him a handful of times.
"I guess... he's just ... distant?" Frisk mumbled rubbed his arm uncomfortably.
* Yes, I can definitely say. And a lot of monsters mistrust humans. You can't blame them, can you?
"No." Frisk shook his head. "... What about the clothes?" Frisk changed the topic from Gaster, to Papyrus's very peculiar advice.
* Unless you packed a different shirt in that bag, I guess the best you can do is lie low, until Undyne is no longer a threat.
"Right..."
* * * * *
'The War of Humans and Monsters. Why did the Humans attack? Indeed, it seemed they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the soul of nearly every monster just to equal the power of single human soul. But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their soul. It's power allows it to persist outside the human soul, even after death. If a monster defeats a human, they can take it's soul. A monster with a human soul... a horrible monster with unfathomable power.'
".. Now I kind of regret never paying attention on my history classes." Frisk stopped for a few moments after he finished reading all the signs with the ancient writings. On the last sign, there was an illustration of something that looked like a horrible beast. "I-I'm sorry, it must be... hard to look back on all this." Frisk remarked, noticing Chara's strange silence.
* ... It's fine. You should know.
"I... feel so sorry for the monsters who went through so much." Frisk frowned.
* Yes. Humans still prove to be exceptionally cruel creatures.
He decided not to linger by the signs for much longer, so he proceeded through Waterfall. He was walking through a long wooden bridge when suddenly.
There was a blue spear landing right in front of him, almost impaling his foot. Frisk only shot his gaze up once to meet with Undyne's before he realized this is the perfect moment to start running. The spears came storming from every direction, Frisk had to be very quick to make sure he doesn not get hit by any of them. He almost tripped and because of a false movement, a spear grazed his right arm and left a nasty scratch. Frisk stood up as quickly as he could and continued running, until he saw another patch of long grass that he practically jumped into to hide.
The clanking of the approaching metal armor was getting louder and louder. Frisk could feel Undyne's presence right next to him, but he did not dare to look up once, he only squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the worst.
Only... that didn't come. There was silence. Frisk dared to look up for one swift moment, to see that Undyne was holding that same monster child that he encountered before. Undyne gently lowered him and walked away. It was only when her banging footsteps stopped, that Frisk felt safe enough to stumble out of the grass. Moments later, he heard the younger monster's footsteps behind him.
"Yo... did you see that? Undyne just... TOUCHED ME!! I'm never washing my face ever again!" The excitement and joy was once again present in their voice and expression. Frisk just nodded and smiled nervously. "Yeah... you're... so lucky, dude."
"Yeahhh, you're pretty unlucky. But don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!" The child ran off, tripping once again. Frisk walked forward, rubbing his injured arm.
* You okay?
"Y-Yeah it's... just a scratch." He nodded.
* It seems Undyne is still onto us.
"You don't say..." Frisk mumbled a little sour. He couldn't deny, he felt rather stirred up. He did just have to run for his life moments ago.
* You may take a breather if you want. I can still see your thoughts and I can see you are not alright.
"... Sure. Thanks." Frisk nodded, sitting in the dirty, rocky soil of Waterfall. This area was probably the most beautiful out of any other that Frisk has seen in the Underground so far. Right now, he was sitting before a flower field. There were blue flowers scattered all around. A lot of monsters in the area, too. Frisk hoped he wouldn't draw too much attention to himself just by sitting there.
* Ah yes. The echo flowers. They repeat your words forever.
"That... sounds scary and amusing at the same time." Frisk was just looking at the flower field and the monsters having fun with the echo flowers, when he heard approaching footsteps, and as soon as he turned to look, his gaze met with someone completely unexpected.
It was Gaster coming through. The royal scientist was probably just as surprised to see Frisk as he was. They stared at each other for a few moments. Considering what Papyrus told him, Frisk really didn't feel like he would have wanted to meet Gaster right here, right now.
He tried to muster a timid hi, but the word got stuck in his throat half way through, so he just waved, standing up clumsily.
"What are you doing here?" Gaster looked over him, not even trying to hide the suspicion.
"Nothing..." Frisk rubbed his bleeding arm. Gaster noticed, too. "Ah..." He was probably able to connect the dots, at least Frisk hoped he would. He really didn't want to have to tell Gaster that he's trying to escape from Undyne.
He would probably turn him in, if he did.
'No, don't think that stupid!' He berated himself. Gaster was just staring at him with a skeptical look, folding his arms. "I-I'm sorry." Frisk managed to say.
"You're sorry?" Gaster tilted his head.
"I mean-... Papyrus called me earlier and uh... yeah..." Frisk looked away. He felt so uncomfortable by the situation, especially because he couldn't tell Gaster was uncomfortable with him, or outright disliked him in this moment. Though a part of him felt like it was rather the latter.
"... I see..." Gaster said after a moment, before stepping closer to Frisk. Somehow, Frisk felt overwhelmingly short compared to Gaster right now. "So? Did you or did you not kill monsters?"
"... Why are you asking? Does it really matter?" Frisk hissed through gritted teeth, clenching his hands into fists. He did not mean to sound so aggressive and this certainly wasn't helping his situation, but he was so frustrated with Gaster showing up in this moment that he felt like he rather wanted to run away and avoid a conversation.
"You see it matters, because Papyrus views you as a friend right now. I wouldn't want him to be friends with an untrustworthy, manipulative human." Gaster's tone remained alarmingly calm. Frisk felt a tinge of anger spark in his gut. Manipulative? He really thinks he is manipulative of all things? He met him only a day ago, and already he is assuming he is a scum.
"I'm not-"
"What makes you think I'm manipulative?"
Frisk slapped a hand on his mouth in surprise. That voice that came out of his mouth... that wasn't his voice. Gaster seemed genuinely surprised as well, suddenly. Taking advantage of that, Frisk's mouth moved again, and the new voice formed words that he never even thought to speak.
"You do not have proof against me. I understand your mistrust of humanity, Dr. Gaster, but it doesn't excuse your prejudice. We only met a day ago, so you shouldn't assume things."
"I'm not-"
"Humans hold the same prejudice against monsters. Do you really think it is right, to act like this? Doesn't it make you just as bad as them?"
"Do not lecture me!"
Frisk honestly wished he could shut his mouth. Or make whoever is speaking for him shut their mouth. The voice was familiar too... was it...?
"You know I'm right. That's why you're getting frustrated. You are better than this, Dr. Gaster. You and I both know."
"... Who are you? You do not sound like the same human." Gaster seemed like he did not even believe his own words right now. But he seems to have caught on, there was no doubt now Chara was somehow speaking for Frisk. Seems she didn't expect this question, as she remained silent for several moments.
"Who I am is not relevant. Just someone who knows you well enough."
Gaster seemed defeated, he closed his eye and walked off. But he looked back at Frisk over his shoulder for a moment. "... I'm watching you." With that, he was gone.
There was a solid minute of silence.
"What the heck?" Frisk spoke up, this time with his actual voice.
* I am sorry, I shouldn't have done that without your consent. But I felt how angry you got, so if I would have let you speak, this would have only turned uglier.
"... Okay, fine. You got me there. But how- how did you even do that?" Frisk rubbed the back of his head.
* I noticed for a while that I can feel the things you feel. And vice versa, when I... you know...
"... Right. So... I'm sharing my body? With you?"
* I believe so, it is something like that.
"Well... I'm happy to share, just give me a heads-up next time." Frisk said, chuckling nervously.
* Of course.
* * * * *
Frisk managed to traverse through the rest of Waterfall without any further problems. He completely forgot about Undyne and Gaster by then. He was approaching a cavern opening, when there was suddenly an unfamiliar voice echoing through his head.
"Seven. Seven human souls and King Asgore will become a god." Frisk looked high up and saw Undyne's armored figure standing atop the cliff. There was a sinking feeling in his stomach. He wanted to move, but his legs wouldn't give in. Undyne turned to face him. "Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Do you understand Human?"
"I... I'm sorry for what happened to monsters." Frisk spoke up, his voice small. "I read those signs. I understand-"
"PAH!! Don't make me laugh! Do not give me that! I know this is all just a cute shtick. You really think you can make me lower my guard like that?!"
"I-I wasn't-"
"LET'S JUST GET TO THE POINT!" Undyne landed in front of Frisk, tossing her helmet aside, revealing her finned, scaley face, her long red hair fluttering in the wind. "Here's the deal, human! Either you give up your soul, or I will tear it from your body."
"I-I..." Frisk did not even have time to think. Everything was happening so fast. Undyne however, seemed all too excited to fight him.
"TIME'S UP!" With a swift mood, Undyne jabbed at Frisk with a blue energy spear. Frisk jumped out of the way, but couldn't nail the landing, so he ended up landing on his face, feeling the taste of fresh blood in his mouth. He managed to stand up. Undyne tossed a spear in front of him, grinning manically. "The only way through is if you face danger head on! No more running away! You won't last a SECOND against me!!"
With trembling legs, Frisk was trying to think about what on Earth he should do, but before he could even start to think, spears were already storming toward him. He just ran, dodging them as swiftly as he could.
* Look- Frisk, just try to breathe. I'm sure we can get past her without fighting.
"FIGHT BACK YOU WIMP! STOP RUNNING AWAY!" Undyne barked, sending another array of spears toward Frisk.
"I don't want to fight you! Can we not just- s-settle this?!" Frisk stammered. He needed a great deal of energy to be able to block the spears, run and talk all at the same time. Undyne seemed relentless.
"Settle this?! Oh PLEASE like I would EVER accept mercy from you!" Undyne cackled with glee as Frisk was already out of breath and could barely move. A spear hit him right in his left arm, making both of his arms injured now. He fell to his knees, his vision turning blurry. All he saw were blue flashes, and he felt pain in every inch of your body. Undyne rolled his eyes. She looked strangely annoyed. "Seriously? I wanted to make this fair, but if you're going to be such a pushover!" Undyne effortlessly threw another spear in Frisk's direction.
But Frisk suddenly blocked it and stood up. He felt a newfound strength in his body. Was it really him...? Frisk threw his spear toward Undyne, catching any other incoming spears and throwing them again, making Undyne block them and move out of their way. Somehow, Frisk looked very threatening right now, despite his small figure.
"About time you showed some guts!" Undyne huffed, starting to get tired. Frisk would not even be hit anymore, he did not even need to dodge the spears. He could grab the incoming spears and block them efficiently.
* Frisk what are you DOING?!
It was as if Chara's words went unheard. Frisk suddenly grabbed two spears with both hands and lunged at Undyne with all his might, catching her off guard and piercing through her armor. Undyne knelt down, clutching her wound. "Ngaahh... Y-... You... you were stronger... than I thought..."
Frisk's face remained completely blank and emotionless as he tossed the spears to the ground. Undyne's body was shaking intensly and it seemed like she needed to muster a lot of energy to even be able to speak. "... So then this is... where it ends..." She croaked, pouring her every ounce of strength into forming her words. But suddenly, she smiled, a new kind of light shining in her eyes. "No... no! I won't die" She smiled, but it was a very forced smile. "Everyone is counting on me to protect them! I won't let them down! Do you hear me? I WILL DEFEAT YOU, NO MATTER WHAT IT TAKES!" She tried to send more spears toward Frisk, but Frisk could block them with no effort whatsoever. As he just stood there, he couldn't help but notice... Undyne's body...
"C-Come on... is that all you got!?" Undyne kept smiling as if there was nothing wrong. He was standing there, completely unaware of her body deteriorating. Frisk seemed.. amused. He enjoyed this. As he blocked more spears, he continued piercing Undyne's armor even further.
Undyne's body was becoming more and more unstable. She struggled to stand straight. "I... won't... give up..." Her voice was fading. There were not even anymore spears coming in. And Frisk was just watching it all. Undyne tried to straightened up. "NO! Not yet! I won't die!" It seemed like life was slowly fading from her eyes, as she was struggling for every drop of determination he could get to not crumble into dust.
"I WON'T DIE!" Undyne's body started melting away, forming a pool on the ground. "I WON'T DIE!" She melted even further, every inch of her body becoming more and more disfigured. "I W O N ' T . . ."
With a last howl from the wind. Undyne disappeared into nothingness, her dust scattering all around. There was long, long, eerie silence.
* ... Frisk...?
Frisk fell to his knees. For minutes, he could not even speak. He was horrified. "What... what did I do...?" He whispered, tears collecting in his eyes as Undyne's melting body kept flashing in front of him, over and over. "It wasn't me! I-I didn't- I swear I didn't do this! I didn't mean to do this! I DID NOT DO THIS-"
* Frisk- just- calm down okay? You can go back and fix this right now, alright?
Go back, and I will make you do it all over again.
The familiar lifeless, cold voice sounded in Frisk's head. He recognized it. So did Chara. It was the Player all along. They still did not leave. They were lingering in the back of Frisk's mind all this time.
* You...
You wouldn't want to witness this... horror again, would you Frisk?
Frisk weakly shook his head, unable to form any words. Even without a body, the Player's voice sounded like they were wearing their most sickly smile.
Very good. And you listen carefully now. From now on, we're playing by my rules, Frisk... You do not want to disobey me. Otherwise... I am afraid you may not find the result very flavourable. Do not make this harder than it needs to be. Am I understood?
Chara wanted to speak up. She wanted to say anything. She wanted to move. Scream. Take control over Frisk, anything. But it was too late. Frisk was too far gone, absorbed by this horrible monster. His movements became very robotic, almost as if it something else moving him around, like a puppet.
The Player approached a yellow star, and touched it, speaking up in their demonic voice.
18 left.